SONGS IN MY HEAD.

i had a dream last night and woke up with a hymn in my head. oh great, now i can't remember. dangit. it was an older hymn. shoooooot. i lost it.

 

but.

 

that soon gave way to this song: bless the lord, oh my soul, o-o-oh my soul, worship His holy name. seems like never before, oh my soul, worship His holy name.

 

 

and now i have THIS song in my head: like sunlight burning at midnight, making my life something so beautiful, beautiful.

 

 

apparently it's a jesus sort of a day, as it should be. which is nice, because i could use some fortification at work today. i have a co-worker that i've always been close with, but lately it seems like i'm walking on eggshells around her.

 

so now i can fortify myself with a good, strong message - i can boss my soul around - bless the lord, oh my soul! knock off the negative speak and focus!

 

 

in other words, hallie continues to be the cutest little tumbler i ever did see!

 

 

 

 

GRATITUDE 2.0

1. double dates

2. hot tea

3. exercise

we had a double date with great friends last week. (isn't double date such a fun phrase to say? i told hallie we were going on a double date and she thought it sounded hilarious). they are such good friends and wonderful people.

you know, there are just some friends with whom you can talk about anything. we can talk about    (w)horses (haha, inside joke), our kiddos and our love for Jesus.

i think as a couple, it's important to go on dates and spend one-on-one time together. i think there's also something to be said for double dates, where you can enjoy adult conversation without feeding/wrangling children.

i am feeling very blessed today for friendship.

 

and hot tea. i'm feeling some co-worker stress lately while at work. having a hot cup of tea seems to help me relax and let it go. let it goooooooooo. done.

 

and speaking of helping me feel better - exercise. the benefits are so awesome and i feel so much better when i am exercising daily. i took a zumba class for the first time last night. it was fun to work out with people! i usually work out on my lunch hour. in the basement. at work. not super fun, but i have created quite a gym for myself down there.

 

also, hallie likes to put on her pint-sized sports bra and workout with me at home. side plank!

 

 

the end.

ALL THINGS HALLIE.

she is just killing it lately.

 

i found this note to sarah, her riding instructor.

 

it's awesome.

 

translation:

i love my horse. when i grow up i will be a trick rider. i am going to be a rodeo girl. i love magic. he is the best horse ever!

 

and the picture is the clincher. she is doing a trick, on "majik."

 

this girl, i tell ya.

DOLLAR BILLS, YA'LL.

i have been waiting for this day for a long time. there is nothing better than seeing my daughter reading for pleasure.

 

i made supper last night while she read "ramona" at the kitchen counter. it makes me so so so happy to that she loves to read.

 

 

 

also, check out her bookmark. yeah, that's how we roll.

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

last week!

 

i had such a nice birthday. my mom came for a visit, cooked me supper and helped me finish projects that have been on my list for, oh, two years?

 

you might remember my 30-before-30 list. the plate wall. it never happened. until now,

 

ta-da!

 

before:

 

 after:

and a close up:

 

i know, the pictures are terrible.

 

and yes, those are antlers as some table decoration. don't be a hater, we all have different styles. the succulents are one of my favorite parts. i'm loving my dining room these days.

 

(and if you clicked the link and are interested, we have also finished up #s 3, 19 and 21!)

 

 

DECISIONS, DECISIONS.

hallie made a big decision. no more dance or tumble team next year. although she is sort of wishy-washy about dance. she wants to do just tap. but she doesn't realize that because of the scheduling, she has to do both...or neither.

 

anyway. she wants to up her horseback riding. and add swimming. two things that she loves and is great at. hallie is unique she doesn't want to do what everyone else is doing.

 

i think that's a hard lesson for me. i want to make sure she is in the activities that will benefit her and help her grow. i see other little girls and what they love, and i feel like she should love those same things. but nope. and that's fine.

 

i definitely want to have her try new things, and she has. she did tumble team and decided it's not for her. she's done dance for three/four (!) years now and is pretty sure it's not for her. swimming, yes. horses, yes.

 

we will do some piano lessons (non-negotiable) and band when the time comes. i don't think that will be a hard sell for her.

 

but now that she's tried quite a few things, it's time to let her pick what she really loves and go with it.

 

she chooses this:

 

 

GRATITUDE.

this morning i read this post from a blog that i love to read: http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-are-three-things-youre-grateful-for_12.html

 

basically, it says a way to increase your happiness is to keep a gratitude journal. just the act of writing down three things you are grateful for is enough to make you happy, happy, happy!

 

so, here are my three things for today:

 

1. guacamole toast. don't knock it 'til you try it.

2. lori greene

3. helpful parents/in-laws

 

i would also add to this the 100% i got on my midterm exam! yay! and that hallie got student of the month for the second month in a row! yippee!

 

and for coffee! on a monday! hooray!

 

have a wonderful week.

 

 

THURSDAY.

what a weird thursday. the babysitter sent me a text last night, "i am throwing up." well, that's not good. i tried the "let's wait and see how you feel in the morning." HAHAHA. poor thing. when irma's sick, you know she's really SICK. and the few messages we've exchanged today have me thinking that tomorrow will be a sick day too.

 

so i'm here with henry. just the two of us. we've had a busy morning of playing on-on, laundry, toys, laundry, dishes, downstairs toys, bedroom toys, lunch (he ate a million strawberries!) and then he took a nap.

 

i made muffins (skinny taste oatmeal blueberry! except with chocolate chips because i have no blueberries!), wrapped up in a blanket and sunned myself on the front porch (sun! yes!) and worked out (booty and abs, if you care).

 

it's been a productive day, but it feels so lazy. i feel so guilty on sick days, especially when NEITHER OF US ARE SICK! but it's fine. it's okay!

 

i get to look back at pictures like this one and remember how much fun i had on maternity leave. it was the best summer of my life. henry and i spent hours on the front porch swing chatting.

 

 

it also confirms that we are done having kiddos. i love being pregnant and having babies and loving on my babies...but i don't anymore are in the cards for us. we've got a pretty good thing going right now!

 

awww! look how little! and henry looks like that austin powers bald guy. and look at hallie's hair - geesh, this was almost two years ago, but she looks so much older now. sniff.

 

 

 

 

the end.

 

ON ON.

henry's favorite thing in the whole wide world is to flip light switches. it drives dave nuts, but it entertains henry forever.

it is annoying precious when he constantly wants me to hold him while he flips the switches on and off, on and off. and on. and off. onoffonoffonoffonoffonoffonoff...repeat.

when he wants to do it, he says "on and on?" it's really cute.

oh, and here's the most boring video of all time. my favorite part is when he works both the switches at the same time. and then when he says daddy! at the end of it.

BOING!

hallie is really into the "ramona" book series. we read out of it every night. i think she really relates to her ;)

 

so one of the characters in the series is susan. susan has curly hair that ramona dreams of pulling and watching it spring back, "boing!"

 

so naturally, hallie wanted to get her hair nice and curly and pretend she was susan.

 

the before (pretending she was grandma lucille):

 

and the after:

 

 

 

SO LONG FEBRUARY, YOU SUCKED.

buh-bye.

 

 

 

i am so grateful that february is o.v.e.r and now we can focus on more important things...like my BIRTHDAY.

 

 

but seriously, i am so, so, so glad that this silly month is over and done. it wasn't the worst month of my life (by far), but it just seems so annoying to me. both january and february, actually.

 

 

nothing really went right this month. it just seemed like one thing after another, just a general feeling of blah. i think we know it's approaching the end of winter (19 more days 'til spring!) and february is our last major hurdle. i mean, march may have snow (like this morning) but we know it will be gorgeous by the end of the month (hopefully).

 

 

(am i overusing parentheses?)

 

 

anyway. i'm ready for some garden planning! our pond is finally back to normal and our bathwater is running clear! i am going to look into a rain barrel perhaps, just in case it happens again. but i really, really, really hope it doesn't.

 

also, henry is such a goober.